2015 Founders’ Award - Sandy Sweeney

The 2015 Founders’ Award recipient is Sandy Sweeney. A member since 2006, Sandy was involved first in the Post Grants and Evaluation Committee and for 2014-2015, has served as Chair of the Grants Committee.

Sandy has an uncanny ability to see the “big picture” and then fill in the pieces to create a complete, professional, transparent system. She has taken the Grants Committee to new levels in the two years she has been Chair. Using group facilitation techniques to get consensus and buy in, Sandy has resolved issues and improved the grants process to add a new layer of fairness and transparency.

In 2015, our new online grant management system Foundant was implemented. The development of this system took over a year. Training ensured applicants understood the new process and reviewers were able to get into the system easily. Sandy worked tirelessly with her partners Judy Coughlin, Barbara Haight and Bronwyn Belling to accomplish this. Sandy also developed stronger voting criteria by enhancing the language on the ballot to give members real outcomes for each grant application choice. Sandy’s leadership has also brought in many new reviewers. She also produced a new Grants Policy that is a culmination of the last ten years of grant making.

Sandy’s quiet, dependable, creative, and thoughtful leadership has elevated our professional standing in the community and made our members more educated and informed grant makers.